LJU4801
ASSIGNMENT 2
DUE DATE: AUGUST 2025
, LJU4801 ASSIGNMENT 2 2025
DUE AUGUST 2025
Instructions:
Carefully consider the following quotation:
Members of the Makwanyane court found the death penalty repugnant because
retribution and group catharsis as the bases for punishment are inconsistent with an
uBuntu-based jurisprudence of reconciliation, restorative justice, and democratic
solidarity.
Read the case of S v Makwanyane (uploaded onto myUnisa under the Additional
Resources tab). Extensively explain why the judgment can be seen as embodying an
African legal philosophical approach.
Drucilla Cornell, Law and Revolution in South Africa: Ubuntu, Dignity, and the
1
Struggle for Constitutional Transformation (Fordham University Press 2014) 171.
African Legal Philosophy in S v Makwanyane (1995)
Introduction
The 1995 Constitutional Court decision in S v Makwanyane epitomizes a legal
reasoning grounded in African values. The Court explicitly invokes ubuntu and other
communitarian principles, emphasizing life, humaneness and social harmony in striking
down the death penalty. In doing so the judgment embodies a jurisprudence of dignity
and transformation, contrasting sharply with Western notions of punishment and law.
Drawing on the full judgment of Makwanyane and insights from UNISA’s LJU4801
study guide (Units 3–4), this essay shows how themes like ubuntu, reconciliation,
restorative justice, communitarianism and the blending of moral/spiritual concerns
shape the Court’s reasoning. It also highlights how these African values differ from
Western legal traditions (retributivism and legal positivism) and how the Court
promotes a dignity-based, transformative legal order.
ASSIGNMENT 2
DUE DATE: AUGUST 2025
, LJU4801 ASSIGNMENT 2 2025
DUE AUGUST 2025
Instructions:
Carefully consider the following quotation:
Members of the Makwanyane court found the death penalty repugnant because
retribution and group catharsis as the bases for punishment are inconsistent with an
uBuntu-based jurisprudence of reconciliation, restorative justice, and democratic
solidarity.
Read the case of S v Makwanyane (uploaded onto myUnisa under the Additional
Resources tab). Extensively explain why the judgment can be seen as embodying an
African legal philosophical approach.
Drucilla Cornell, Law and Revolution in South Africa: Ubuntu, Dignity, and the
1
Struggle for Constitutional Transformation (Fordham University Press 2014) 171.
African Legal Philosophy in S v Makwanyane (1995)
Introduction
The 1995 Constitutional Court decision in S v Makwanyane epitomizes a legal
reasoning grounded in African values. The Court explicitly invokes ubuntu and other
communitarian principles, emphasizing life, humaneness and social harmony in striking
down the death penalty. In doing so the judgment embodies a jurisprudence of dignity
and transformation, contrasting sharply with Western notions of punishment and law.
Drawing on the full judgment of Makwanyane and insights from UNISA’s LJU4801
study guide (Units 3–4), this essay shows how themes like ubuntu, reconciliation,
restorative justice, communitarianism and the blending of moral/spiritual concerns
shape the Court’s reasoning. It also highlights how these African values differ from
Western legal traditions (retributivism and legal positivism) and how the Court
promotes a dignity-based, transformative legal order.
